Never Ever Washed A Car. What Do I Buy?

[emzino]

Hi there. The title is true, i've never actually washed a car apart from with soap and water so I don't know what for example "Clay" is or how "Wax" will help

I'll give one picture of my A3 inside and out to see what I got:

And yes they are leather seats.

Firstly, I don't have a clue what products to buy, what kind of cloth should I use etc etc...
If I was to talk into Halfords with a list of products i'd need to keep my car gleaming and protected (inc. the inside), what would I need to buy?

Don't get me wrong I don't want someone to hand it to me on a plate, it's just that I don't know any of the cleaning product jargon so I do apologise in advance.

Many thanks for any input.

 

[pav-g]

Hiya mate, you want to register with Detailing World.com and discover a world of wash and wax - definately an eye opener.

 

[emzino]

Oh cool. Thanks for the website. Had a quick look around and looks very very useful.

Thanks

 

[icenutter]

You want a sheepskin (or natural fiber) mitt instead of a sponge. Rinse car with a hose (not a jet washer). Wipe mitt in lines in the direction air flows over the car. Wash using 'two bucket method' - you have an extra bucket to clean the dirty mitt (so your clean water stays clean). Rinse (maybe with a jet washer). Dry using a Towel (you can get special ones) not a chamy.

Thats prob enough for starters, but you can take all of this stuff to extremes

 

[icenutter]

Oh, and you can't go wrong with Autoglym or Meguiars stuff from Halfords, at least until you are taking things far to seriously.

 

[emzino]

Excellent! I hope they sell this stuff at Halfords hehe.

As soon as pay day comes i'm gonna jot this stuff down and go in there.

Yea i'm not overly serious at the moment, just want it to shine and be protected. So Autoglym or Meguiars will work ok?

How about for Leather seats, what should I generally do for those?

 

[WX51TXR]

A good place to start is our car care guides - they go over all of the major tasks from washing through polishing and on to interior care, etc. Once you get a feel for the methods, all you need to do is browse the matching parts of the store for ideas about products... or come back to us and ask if not sure. The guides really will help to give you an overview to detailing, and how to look after your car properly.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html

 

[emzino]

Fantastic! Can't believe my luck, got so much info lol. I really wanna put em' to use now. Dammit pay day hurry

 

[doeboy]

I'm in the same position as you matey, didn't stop me spending £600 this month on "essential" kit like polisher and pressure washer amongst other things!

 

[icenutter]

Autoglym or Meguiars products are good, and will help protect your car and keep it shiny.

Leather needs wiping with a damp cloth and periodically cleaning then 'feeding' with something like Gliptone Liquid Leather.

 

[chris_20]

dude get ready for the detailing bug. just a warning your wallet WILL take a bashing!!

 

[emzino]

£600?!?!?!?!?!?! You must be having a laugh... I thought around £50-70 tops LOL. Good greif...

Well first things first, I wanna make sure my leathers are alright. Last thing I want is them crackling.

So, damp cloth, clean then with Gliptone Liquid Leather. Gotcha. Hope it works

 

[chris_20]

i musta spent somewhere in the region of £600 on detailing equipment over the last 6months or so.
any good leather cleaner like autoglym will do the trick nicely and is availible from motorworld/halfords etc

 

[DIABLO636]

Hi Emzino...
Its all a bit new to me also, only had my first audi for 1-2mths - and just started buying the things i need to get it in the best condition possible.....list so far of stuff bought and stuff on order is below.....

I have already bought the following....

Autoglym Interior Shampoo 2.5L
Autoglym Glass Polish 325ml
Autoglym Clean Wheels 500ml
Autoglym Alloy Wheel Seal
Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing 500ml
Autoglym Bumper Care 325ml

Stuff on order....

Autoglym Super Resin Polish 1L
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection 1L
2 Buckets with Grit Guards
Meguiars Lambs Wool Wash Mitt
Meguiars Quik Clay Detailing System
Poorboys 24"x36" Waffle Weave Drying Towel
Megs Last Touch quick detailing spray

May also get some Collinite 476S or some Collinite 915 not sure yet.....all adding up to quite a lot but at least after suffering the initial cost, the goods will last for a while and the car will stay in great condition.

Got plenty of advise from detailingworld.com, think you will find that quite a few of the audisport members use that site too.

 

[chris_20]

diablo- thats a great start mate. i would deffo recomend the 476, the durability is amazing. i applied 2 coats of it last september and its still holding up strong now 5 months on beading the water up a treat and protecting my a4.

Also the super resin polish is a great product aswell as the clay, you'll be amazed how much dirt the clay picks up!

 

[doeboy]

Might be an appropriate time for me to post that i have:

2 x 325ml bottles of Auto Glym super resin polish

1 x Collinite 476s

All new! I've Pm'd diablo if he's not interested its up for grabs

£21 posted i rekon.

SOLD TO DIABLO.

 

[DIABLO636]

consider them bought - pm sent....cheers.

All previous cars ive owned have just ended up being put through the car wash...have very little spare time to clean them myself and never had the patience to do it properly either. But since buying such a nice car this time and spending as much as i did i really want to look after it. Also this forum and detailing world have shown me so many examples of top quality cars which are very well maintained - the difference in the quality of cars is glaringly obvious now i now what im looking at. Consider myself inspired by the good work of other forum members. Thats why i have gone for it and tried to buy everything in 1 go - get it all in and over and done with in 1 big bill. So that when i have got a spare day or 2 i can give the car the full treatment and will have all the products needed.

The hard work of washing, polishing waxing etc will have to wait though as having operation tomorrow to put a metal plate and 2 pins into my broken collar bone. Sports bike didn't want to go out in the cold so threw me off in a hissy fit. (very expensive repair bill).

As soon as i do get it done will post some pics.......

 

[chris_20]

car wash

u said the 'C' word

only messing, yep sounds like the detailing bug has gotten into u my friend. good luck with the operation by the way:icon_thumright:

 

[DIABLO636]

i know, i know......well now i know anyway....carwash is evil. Wont do it again - promise. Thankfully this curent car has never seen a that place that we shall not again mention. Have been having it hand cleaned by some local guys once a week since i bought it. Just the basic washes though - thats why im buying all this stuff now - shine and protecttion time - anyway im sure i will be asking a few more questions to get some of the details right when i get down to it.
got to go now - due in hospital to wait for a bed again and get collar done. Leaving in 5 - will prob post when i get out after they have rebuilt me.

All the best,

 

[chris_20]

i wouldnt trust those car wash guys either mate- but hey at least u know the way forward now.

take it easy bud

 

[SamDude]

As soon as i do get it done will post some pics.......

Of your pins?

 

[DIABLO636]

Back from hospital, plae and pins inserted into collar bone.
****** killing me, scars front and back...no fun at all.
Looks like its going to be some time before i can use these products anyway. Will have toput some faith in the hand wash guys for another month or so. this typing 1 handed is a bit slow going too.

oh well never mind....had to be done.
and another few weeks of work on full pay.....too much spare time to search the internet for more products - wouldnt be surprised if i ended up with a pc next (must hide my credit cards from myself)

 

[DIABLO636]

Thanks andy - srp's and 476s arrived this morning, as soon as im over this surgery will put them to good use.
This is excellent example of how sites like this can be so helpful.
Good advise and tips from lots of friendly helpful people, and good opportunities to buy/sell or exchange products with other like minded enthusiasts.

Cheers again,

 

[emzino]

Firstly, want to thank everyone for there input in this thread. Helped me understand alot of what needs to be done and how to about it.

Today I went about cleaning the plastics today with soapy cloth but it was an absolutely failure lol.
You know when you get in the car and your feet rub on the edge at the bottom, theres alot of dirt marks there and below the glove box on the door as well but it just wouldnt come out. Looks really bad

I hope theres something for the plastic as soon as I get paid!

 

[DIABLO636]

use the AG bumper care on the dark plastics on the backs of seats or around where people's feet mark areas - its like a gell rub it in and it will bring back the original colour of the plastic....wouldnt use it on the dashboards though....